Truer Meaning
by Kurokawa
Summary: You can't sing a song with no words, you can't see a person if you just look at them. Find a truer meaning.
1. Until We Meet Again

Only in dreams... Spike ambled down the beaten path, soaked and empty, the smell of damp asphalt drifting into his mind and his hair brushing against his collar. The air was quiet, the sky was silver and glowed with electric pulses, and counting within itself, getting slower and the patter of rain sliding down Spike's face got dawdling. He stopped, his feet sinking in the mud momentarily, and lifted his face and peered into the sky. His gaze weakened as his eyes drew to a slit and then shut.   
  
"It's a fool's dream."   
  
Measure 1: Until We Meet Again  
  
If there is one thing Spike knows, it's that he doesn't like tofu. This was the only food, if he were to call it a food product, on the entire Bebop. Faye, who was not convinced, dragged Ein with her to search the very depths of the area. Spike was almost convinced to join the two, but Jet had something he wanted to show him.  
"Make it quick, I'm hungry for food." Spike said, reluctantly following Jet.  
"This, my friend, is better than any tofu that Faye and Ein will be eatin' tonight!" Jet said, an excited edge to his voice, leading Spike to his treasure. This made Spike interested.  
"Why didn't you say earlier?" Spike said, on the verge of shaking Jet's shoulders.   
"Please, either say it's food or lack there of!"  
"It better than food, you fool!" Jet said, stopping at a door. Spike stopped to and investigated it.  
"Whatcha waitin' at, old man?" Spike said, waving his arms frantically in the air. Jet pushed in a code on a pad near the door, and in what seemed like forever, the door stopped, opened completely. Spike gasped and fell backwards on the floor, in horrific shame.  
"Edward has beaten Jet-person and Spike-person to the secret treasure!" Edward said emphasizing 'beaten' and 'treasure'. There Edward stood, holding up a black box high above her head. Jet screamed, clenching his skull then dashed in, grabbing the box and franticly trying to pull it away from Ed.  
"Evil Jet-person! Give rightful treasure to Edward! Edward wants the secret treasure! Give secret treasure to EDWARD!" Edward said, putting her feet against Jet's chest, which seemed to be the only thing stopping her from falling, her arms tightly grasping the box with a golden lock. When Jet's fingers slipped and he let go, Edward was sent slamming against the wall, tilting the whole Bebop enough that Spike and Jet towards the walls as well. Jet, toppling over Edward saw her complete unconscious and he swiped the box.  
"It's all mine!" Jet cackled, not noticing he was talking to himself. Spike rubbed his head and pulled himself up.  
"What's so damn good about that stupid box to make you want to knock Bebop and Ed out of adeptness?" Spike said, shakily moving through the door towards Jet.  
"Come and see." Jet said, picking at the lock.  
  
"This is getting us nowhere you useless mutt!" Faye said sluggishly following Ein, who was hot on the trail of something. "I am starving you, inconsiderate canine! Thanks to you I'll just go and wither away to nothingness. Never to be seen again, and oh how they will mourn! They will beat you with a metal spoon, I swear to you now!" Faye mumbled, basically talking to herself. Suddenly Ein stopped and started barking. Faye looked around, there was nothing, they were in the middle of the hallway.  
"Stupid dog!" Faye said. She woefully ambled to one of the walls. "Woe is me" she'd say over and over. "Doomed to forever eat tof-" Faye suddenly felt her hand around a flat latch that was hidden on the wall. She flipped it up and put in her personal code. It didn't work, then she tried Jet's, then Spike's, and then Edward's. None worked, it was not a code from one of the crew members, so it had to be...  
"Miles!" Doohan yelled, wiping oil off his face, "I didn't make this ship just to listen to the radio. You want the whole ship, don't you?"  
"Sure, old man, I just have to listen to the end of this game, it's on the last innings, so I wouldn't make such a huge fuss about--- oh! did you hear that!? That's an actual grand slam, wow the vigor, the valor! the ama-"  
"Shut-up and answer the stupid phone!" Doohan said, returning to his work. Miles hadn't noticed the ringer going off. He pressed down the communicator button and saw Faye flash up upon the screen.  
"Oh, your Spike's shipmate, right?" Miles said, making a punching mime, signaling that he was a fan of Spike. Faye mumbled and groaned.  
"Listen tiny, I'm starving and I need Doohan, okay?" Faye said, shaking the monitor.   
"He's busy, ask me instead!" Miles said, still excited. "Is it a mystery?"  
"Well okay baseball boy, there's something inside the Bebop, there's a pad, and I don't know the password. I must know the password! And no one else could of put that there!" Faye said, calming down, Ein walking around her feet.  
"Oh, you found that old thing? Easy, the password is BASEBALL1234, easy to remember."  
"Wait...baseball...you did that? Is it food?" Faye said, distressed. Miles shook his head quietly, smiling.  
"It's better than food!" He said. Faye got excited.   
"Something in the world better than food?" Faye left without turning off the communicator."  
"Hey!" Miles yelled, "You're gonna waste the batteries!"  
"Shut-up and come back over here to help for once!"  
  
"So, how you gonna open it, eh?" Spike said, poking at the golden lock.  
"Well Faye has one of those lock picks, doesn't she, we'll simply steal it from her." Jet said, as if it was the same as borrowing. Spike sighed.  
"If it's that important to you, then be my guest. I don't want to be a-" Before Spike could finish, Jet was gone and a screen popped up on the communicator.  
"Oh, Bob, hey, what's up?" Spike said, sitting down on the couch, seeing the communicator had been left on.  
"Can I speak to Jet?"  
"You just missed him, he raving about some box he found on the ship. 'Better than food' he says." Spike said, pointing towards Faye's room. Spike heard Edward waking up and coming his way.  
"Well, then tell this to Jet later: it looks like there's a dangerous gang going around Earth, looking for recruits, so it's a big job. I trust you guys'll like what it'll rake."  
"Tell me, Bob. I need a goal." Spike said, Edward leaning over his shoulder.  
"Earth? Edward gets to meet father-person and Macaroni!" Edward gleefully said, raising her arms into the air.  
"Um, I think his name was...uh...forget it."  
"Listen to this, 50,000 Woolongs each. Might sound like nothing now, but imagine I tell you there are around 40 members. It's like picking corn." Bob said, smiling and winking.  
"I like the way you think Bob." Spike smiled to and said turned off the communicator. "Maybe Jet should stay with his precious box. I'll take this on alone."  
"Edward wants to go to Earth! Take Edward with you or Ed will tell on you!" Edward said, shaking Spike's shoulders with all of her might.  
"Shh! I'll take you, just don't say anything to Jet, we'll go tonight in the Swordfish, okay?" Spike said, holding Edward still.  
"Okay, Spike person! Thank you, thank you!" Edward bounded off singing to herself. Spike sighed, it might be good to have Edward after all.  
  
"B-A-S-E-B-A-L-" Faye paused for a second and turned to Ein.  
"Ein, was it up to 3 or 4 or maybe 5?" Faye asked the dog. Ein simply whined and cocked his head, scratching himself behind his ear with his foot. Faye moaned. She bent down to Ein and looked into his face, soon fighting against him for him not to lick her face.  
"Now listen here, Ein! Tap the floor with your paw however many numbers I put in." Faye said, smiling. She knew Ein understood her. Ein paused. Faye waited. Nothing. She scrunched her face in.  
"THAT'S IT! IT'S THE CLOSET FOR YOU!" Faye said, grabbing Ein. Ein squealed and whined, wriggling to get out of Faye's grasp as she took him to her room.  
"Okay, Ed. If you help me out when I tell you to, I'll get you all the Piyokos you want." Spike smiled, handing Ed a handheld object. Edward looked at it for a while and nodded.  
"Edwards gets delicious Piyokos! Yum, yum!" Edward licked her lips and danced in circles as if she were dizzy. She stopped and looked at the object, turning it on.  
"Oh! Many people walking around! See here, layout of Bebop-bebop! Jet-person is in Faye-Faye's room, he's in big trouble! BUSTEEEEED!" Ed sang.   
"When we're on Earth, you use that to find large groups of people in the area okay, Ed?"  
"What ever Spike-person desires." Ed said. "Oh, it seems Faye-Faye has spotted poor Jet-person. He's in big trouble!"  
"What are you doing in my room?!" Faye screamed, throwing Ein to her side.   
  
"You perverted old man!" Ein slowly backed away and ran off. Jet would of liked to do the same.  
"Nothing...really! I just accidentally walked into the wrong room!"  
"Sure you did, just like you accidentally stole my things. Not to mention my stealing tool!" She swiped her gadget from him.  
"What exactly did you need it for? I might just help you, for a price." Faye suddenly smiled at her great idea. Jet groaned.  
"I'm broke!" He said.  
"Then get money!" Faye yelled, then she walked off to look for Ein. Jet stood there. He needed to get money. He could never steal that good anyway.  
"Howdy, amigos!" Punch said, jumping on to the screen with Judy.  
"It looks like an awful lot of bounties are on their way to Mars again!" Judy said, giggling. A screen popped up with several mug shot of ugly people.  
"These people are some of the many independent robbers and such filling the streets constantly, and now Mars' crime rate is off the charts! We need some serious bounty hunter help, so all of the bounties have been raised," Punch's voice over could be heard. The screen flashed to Punch's face, "twenty percent! What a great deal!" Jet smiled. Good enough for him, enough to pay Faye for her lock pick. He never had the skill to pick locks with hairpins or anything.  
"Mars, eh? I'll be able to get enough Woolongs from that place to repair the Hammerhead!" Jet smiled.  
"Oh?" Faye said, who had snuck up behind him. "If you're gonna be greedy, any extra money's going to the Red Tail!"   
"But...the Red Tail isn't damaged!" Jet said, turning around in anger. Faye grinned, her stare burning through his soul and money, by the second. He sighed, he knew the words that were emerging from Faye's mouth before they did.  
"Mod-i-fi-ca-tions." 


	2. Hard Times

only in dreams...  
  
Measure 2: Hard Times  
  
Spike sneaked by the couch that Edward was sleeping on the floor next to. He made sure his footsteps landed on spot that didn't make a sound. This is something he could not easily accomplish. One small, slow step on Ein's stump of a tail was fatal. You might ask how Spike could not help but missing this, but it was unseen and Spike's eyes were on Ed at the moment.  
Ein screeched. Lights turned on. Spike ran. Spike tripped. With the last strength left in his neck, he turned around to see the lightning fast Edward clutching his knees and wailing.  
"You're taking Edward too!" She cried. Faye's light turned on and she dashed out.  
"What are you two up to?" She yelled. Spike and Edward were gone. She shrugged and turned off her light, yawning.   
"Target location: M-A-R-S." Jet typed in. He chuckled to himself. "How much money I actually earn is none of Faye's business. I'll simply do one modification and keep the rest for precious food." Jet licked his lips at the thought of what he could buy on Mars. His ship sailed through the glimmering stars as he maneuvered around all the meteors.   
  
"B-A-S-E-B-A-L-L-1-2-3" Faye said as she typed, Ein obediently by her side. She looked at him.  
"That isn't right...is it?" She groaned, still in her pajamas and clutching her fist where she desired coffee. Ein scratched behind his ear then innocently looked back at Faye longingly awaiting praise. Instead Faye threatened with her fist, but then withdrew back to the hidden panel.  
"B-A-S-E-B-A-L-L-1-2-3-4" She slowly entered. The bebop shook deeply as a wall opened itself up, looking as if it had simply never been opened. She happily peered in, soon to be greatly disappointed when she spotted only an empty room.  
"I'll kill that demon child, I swear it!" Faye said, checking all the corners of the room. "So empty! Such lack of food and waste of time!" Ein simply barked. Faye turned her head, Ein was again barking at a wall. Faye squealed with joy.  
"Oh! A treasure so amazing it needs two doors!" She danced towards it and opened a similar panel and pressed in Mile's code. Miserable failure. She punched it, soon after hurting her fist and retreating back to the couch. She immediately called up Doohan. Doohan answered, rubbing his forehead with a towel and greeting her.  
"Doohan, you know that secret door you and Miles built? I need the second code!" She wailed, sucking her knuckles. Doohan looked surprised and confused at first then smiled.  
"Oh, that, yes, but I don't know the second code. Those codes were all made by different people here on Earth. Mine is the fourth." Faye held back a scream.  
"There are four?" She said in a hysterical whisper.  
"Six." Doohan smiled. Faye again held back oral anger, by simply gasping in air and biting her lip.  
  
"Okay, Edward! We're headed straight for Earth!" Spike said, speeding closer near Venus. He was above Venus, actually, when something went wrong.  
"Spike! This is bad, bad, oh so very bad!" Edward cried, fidgeting with the controls in the back.  
"Spit it out, tell me the news!" Spike said, feeling the Swordfish II shake underneath him.  
"Fuel levels are critical. Need FUUUUUEEEELLLL!" Edward screamed as the Swordfish II dipped and spun, plummeting toward Venus. Spike jerked the controls around, pointing the ship towards the hyperspace gate.   
"We're gonna make it! Calm down and stop screwing with the controls!" Spike expertly pulled through the gate, giving the money meant for entering Earth away at the Venus toll booth. And almost in control, Spike zoomed towards a parking area when the Swordfish gave it's last cry and slid into the ground uprooting trees and sending dirt airborne. Innocent passerby were covered and buildings were dirtied. Police and curious people gathered around to see what was happening.  
"We're okay!" Spike said, raising his hands and coming out of the Swordfish, Edward still unconscious inside it. A man from the ISSP walked up to him.  
  
"Name?" He said loudly and unkindly.  
"Spike Spiegel, master bounty hunter. You know Jet Black?" Spike usually added Jet into his conversations with ISSP officers, just in case it would give him an edge.  
"No. Age?"  
"Excuse me!" Spike groaned, his face growing tense, "I'm older than you, I'll tell you that." The officer looked up at Spike from his pad with a menacing look that said 'Don't mess with me' and Spike answered with a 'why not' face. After an episode of faces, the crowd was parted for a jolly old officer with a thick brown mustache and a worn outfit.  
"Who's this, officer?" Grunted the fat fellow, who seemed to take forever to approach. The young officer saluted and stated.  
"Spike Spiegel, sir!" And then the jolly man looked up at Spike in a amazement.  
"Jet's partner? Isn't that right?" He gaped. Spike grinned, this is what he wanted.  
"Alright, Mars already! Closer than I thought!" Jet smiled, diving down to meet Mars. His communicator turned on and Faye was on the screen, Ein by her side.  
"Hey, Faye! What's hanging?" Jet laughed. Faye moaned.  
"Listen, can you make a trip to Earth for me, please?" Faye begged, silently, so not to wake her insanity.  
"Why should I? I'm already at Mars! Go yourself!" Jet grumbled. Faye shook the communicator.   
"No, really! If I go then the Bebop will be abandoned and we could get robbed!" Faye said, having made up the excuse up only seconds before. Jet started to talk, but he was interrupted by the shaking Hammerhead, muttering to himself as he again made it stable.  
"Listen, Faye. I'm going to Mars. That's that. You asked me in the first place." He turned of the communicator.  
"Mr. Spiegel, I'm sorry but we can't help you unless you present information indicating you have any sort of insurance." Rob, the fat policeman, said scratching his bald head. Spike moaned.  
"Don't you trust me? I invested years ago!"  
"If so, you haven't been paying what they ask." Rob said, looking at Spike from his papers. Spike flinched.  
"INSUUUUUUUUURRRRAANNNNNNCCEE! Spike-person not pay and Swordfish II hurt bad!" Edward cried, pulling on Spike's arm. Spike tore his arm away and glared at Rob.  
"Listen...if you don't believe me, then what can you do? Just lend me money, okay? I'll pay you back." Spike was interrupted by his pocket communicator. He picked it up and turned it on, and Faye answered.  
"What do you want?" Spike asked, Rob looking around to see if it was Jet.  
"Oh, Spike! YOU KNOW HOW YOU SAID YOU WERE GOING TO EARTH? ARE YOU THERE YET?" Faye screamed. Spike held his ears.  
"Why the hell are you yelling? And I'm on Venus, not Earth!" Spike yelled back, but not as loud. Faye paused.  
"THE RADIATOR BROKE, IT'S NOISY, SO SPEAK UP, CRACKHEAD!" Faye screamed again. Spike twitched, then started yelling into his communicator, Edward screaming non-sense in the back.  
"I'M ON VENUS, I CRASHED! I'M NOT ON EARTH!" Spike screamed then hung up.   
"You can say that again." Rob said to himself, holding his ears. Before he could do anything about it, Ed had climbed upon Spike's back, pinching his cheeks.  
"Edward thinks Spike is blushing!" Edward giggled.  
"Welcome to Mars!" chimed a too-happy-to-not-be-faking-it type person to Jet. He outstretched his arm, presenting a small booklet. "Learn of the great things you can do on Mars today!" Jet cringed and slunk past him.   
"I'll pass." He said, raising his hand in the air as a quick 'no thanks' and left. He saw no signs of disruption, so he decided he need to ask a local. He spotted a man with purple hair purchasing a hot dog and approached him.  
"Listen, bud. I'm a bounty hunter and I need a bounty. Were are they all? I thought this place was full of them." Jet said, letting the man take time to process what he had been asked. After a short pause, he smiled.  
"Oh, well they all went away, to the mountains to the East." The man pointed to Jet's right and continued, "Across the small desert." The man walked away, not saying good-bye. The vendor continued the man's speech.  
"Good sir, there were many bounties here, but they stole us clean. They retreated to the town amidst the mountains. There's a desert between the two but it's not too long. Oh, and if you catch the one, Atsuka Kajime, can you get back everything he stole, there are very precious things with him." The vendor said, putting away his mitts and tools.   
"Atsuka Kajime..." Jet murmured to himself. he grabbed a handheld computer and typed up the location of the bounty prices. A grim face depicted Atsuka as a man with black hair draping over his eyes. The sum on his head was a hefty two hundred million Woolongs. Jet clicked off the computer and slipped in his pocket.  
"Thanks, partner. I'll be sure to look for him."  
"Don't mention it, as long as you get what he has...that's plenty thanks for me." Said the man cleaning his hands. Jet nodded a good bye then ambled Eastward.  
"Jet on Mars, Spike on Venus! What am I to do?" Faye wailed, holding Ein above her head. She brought him down and petted him a few times. A smile found itself upon her face.  
"I think I know why Edward likes you," Faye said to Ein, scratching him behind the ear, "It's nice to have someone who listens to you, who is always by your side to help, and is cute and fluffy!" Faye giggled. Her mind wandered into thoughts of Spike, who seemed to match that description as well. Her thought were suddenly suspended with the message from Doohan that popped up on the screen.  
"Faye! I got some info for you that might help!" Doohan said. Faye snapped into attention.  
"Okay, what I've got for you is my password. It's DR1V3R3000" Doohan said, pausing to let Faye write it down then continued, "And I know one of the doors opens to one of your good friend's passwords. And I think your friend Edward knows one of them, too. That's the extent of my knowledge." Doohan bent down out of the screen, then came back up with a little pad in his hands.  
"Other than that the very last door is...your very own password, isn't that something?" Doohan smiled at the pad, then at Faye. Faye gasped as her back slammed against the couch. She didn't recall any such event. Of course she hardly recalled anything from her past. They stared blankly, she didn't know what to think. Whenever she did that, it was still unknown to her what the treasure was, hidden in her thoughts of the past. Lost in the shroud of memories back deep inside her thoughts, maybe never to come out.  
"Bye, Faye." Doohan said, turning off the communicator. It brought Faye back from her thoughts, but she was still distant. She tried to push away the thought of her past, and she tried, but she just sighed and went into her room.  
"I can't believe them! What assholes!" Spike screamed. "Claiming I have a bad debt history! They must be mistaking me for Faye!" He rambled. He looked down at Edward who was next to him. She was sulking.  
  
"Hey, Ed, what's wrong?" Spike said, bending down to her height. Edward reluctantly began talking.  
"Edward misses Ein." Edward said, clutching her hands behind her back and turning side to side and rocking back and forth on her feet. Spike sighed. "We can't get to Ein until we get money for fuel, okay?" Spike said. This didn't cheer her up. Spike sighed. With no idea on how to make her happier, he simply wrapped his arms around her in a warm, soft embrace to comfort her. Ed accepted wrapping her arms around Spike and crying on his shoulder.  
"Edward wants Ein back!" She cried. Spike patted her on the back saying comforting words.  
"That's sweet." Said a velvety woman's voice. Spike looked up at the figure.  
"Oh I'm sorry, did I interrupt? It's just nice to see a father and daughter opening up to each other like that...it's very sweet." Said the woman. Spike looked at her. He knew he could place her face somewhere in the back of his mind.  
"Are you...by any chance...Stella?" Spike whispered. 


	3. This is Me Leaving You

only in dreams...  
  
Measure 3: This is Me Leaving You  
  
"Small my ass!" Jet screamed, stranding in the middle of the desert. "Let them say what they want, but I don't see any mountains around here!" Jet collapsed on his knees. At least that's all he wanted to do, but his knee smashed into a hard substance in the sand and he rolled around in pain. He cursed, waiting for the surging pain to abscond. When it did such, he rubbed it gently then peered over to the emerging round white rock protruding from the sand. It was simple...it had to be fake...right? Right in the middle of the desert...it was a refrigerator. He felt too lucky to forget the possibilities. Too hungry also, so he didn't care if it was fake or not, he just had to get into it. After a long moment of excavating the refrigerator from the deep bowels of the hot sand, he grasped the warm metal handle. He couldn't open the door though, because a sticky substance was holding it back. As all his strength poured into a last jerk, it flung open. Then, it all came to Jet. The time, long ago, when the Bebop was under siege by a strange poisonous blob, and the refrigerator was sent towards Mars, the blob most likely frozen in space. But not anymore. It had thawed, and it wanted to get Jet again. And it did, upon the arm that had opened the refrigerator. After it's attack, it left Jet paralyzed upon the sand floor as it scampered away. Jet might have died, with no food or water. He would have died, if it hadn't been for the man who was leaving the mountains on his way to the city, to get away from the crime, crossing his path. Seeing Jet, seeing his purple mark. One look at Jet, and the man helped him upon his horse, soon after riding off to the city.  
  
"DAMN RADIATOR!" Faye kicked it then left the noisy room, so that she no longer had to scream. "It's sure is miserable here alone with Ein." Faye said to herself, as if she was waiting for Spike to pop out of nowhere and comfort her. She found herself hoping he would, then shook off the idea. She thought that maybe she needed to call Jet about the radiator, since she had nothing better to do at the moment until he came back. If she was lucky, he'd be on the ship and coming back. She clicked up his number for his handheld communicator. The screen popped up but it was black.  
"HEY JET! GET THE COMMUNICATOR OUT OF YOUR POCKET! I NEED TO TALK WITH-" Faye was saying, but the communicator was lifted and the screen showed a man, about Faye's age, with blonde hair with blue streaks through it. Faye paused for a second, looking at the man's face, with orange tinted glasses balancing itself upon his nose, not connected with any straps or wires to his ears. Faye grimaced.  
"Hey, I'm Jet's daughter," She lied, in case he was the type that only cared about relatives, "what do you have my daddy's communicator for?" Faye angrily said, in an annoyed tone. The stranger blinked his blue eyes.  
"Oh, is this Jet? I found him with a weird purple mark on his arm." Said the blonde haired stranger, turning the screen to Jet's human arm. Faye gasped. She knew right away where she had seen that mark before.  
"Please! Bring him here! This has happened before, you need to bring my poor father here!" Faye said, in a tone of urgency. She felt quaint afterwards, knowing she could care less about Jet, but wanted Jet to come to the Bebop and fix the radiator and let her fly off to Earth. The stranger blinked again, then asked for directions.   
"Above Io, you can't miss it. It has the words 'The Bebop' on it's side, okay?" She said, as if it were a very obvious thing that he should already know. She thought she thought she'd add a last note of urgency to rush him with her wonderful acting, "Please, stranger, bring my poor father here so I can help him!" Then she said her goodbyes. After the communicator was turned off, she jumped upon the couch, grabbing a pillow and hugging it tightly, laughing loudly to herself. Ein whined, in wonder. Faye smiled back at Ein.  
"Game, set, and match, Ein! I'm just that good!" Faye giggled to Ein. Ein just stuck out his tongue, panting. Faye smiled again.  
  
"Yes...and...how do you know me?" Stella asked questioningly. Spike stood up and looked her over.  
"It's me...well, you've never seen me before but... I'm Spike." Spike smiled. He remembered that Stella was blind, and never got to see him before. But since she could see clearly now...he wondered what she thought of him, for she was speechless. She put her hand over her mouth, holding back tears.  
"It's...really you? The one who helped... Rocco?" Stella said with a weak voice on the brink of tears. Spike, as he had done with Edward only second earlier, opened his arms and let her cry into them. Women seemed to need to do that every once in a while. He smiled as he brought her back, her face red and full of tears. She beamed and whispered a bit to herself, but Spike could hear a faint 'thank you'. As she slowly backed away she dotted her tears away and sniffled, smiling.   
"Wow, I haven't seen you in...forever." Stella said, half crying and half laughing on 'forever'. Spike gave a fake laugh and rested his big hand on her shoulder.  
"Rocco was a good man...and a good friend." Spike grinned, then turned around towards Edward, who was looking a bit confused, but took his hand as he offered it muttering things like, 'Are you Edward's new papa?' Stella paused then waved out a hand.  
"Wait! Spike!" She announced. He turned around. She paused again.  
"Did you say...you needed money to refuel your ship...I can help you and your daughter."  
  
"Hello?" Said an unfamiliar voice outside the Bebop. Faye had an idea on who it was. She opened the air lock and let in two figures, one limp and that was set on the couch.  
"Hey, sorry it's such a mess in here." Faye said to the familiar stranger, smiling and in her best outfit. The stranger blushed, then turned back to Jet.  
"Uhm...are you sure Jet'll be okay?" Asked the stranger. Faye paused.  
"Err...what's your face, is dad breathing?" Faye said, almost completely dropping her act.  
"Uhm...ya, kinda." The stranger said, and soon turned back to Jet, trying to bandage his purple wound. Faye picked up Ein and sat so close to Nacho that she was basically leaning on him.  
"Would you like a drink?" Faye asked.  
"No thanks, I'm okay." He said, finishing his bandaging. Faye sighed.   
"Listen!" Faye said, almost yelling, "If I'm gonna get anything outta you, it's gonna be answers!"  
"Name?" Faye asked, looking at him. The stranger blushed more.  
"Well my name is...uhm...Nacho." Said Nacho. Faye's eyes went wide and she covered her mouth as to not laugh at his name. 'Nacho' was a real Spanish name, but it was still a funny idea to name a child 'Nacho'. But Faye didn't laugh long, because she knew that she didn't want to hurt his feelings...yet. Faye sat down, leaning over, being sure to show her cleavage. Nacho still did look over at her. Faye got stubborn.  
"Do you like dogs?" Faye asked, trying to sound maybe a bit civilized. The stranger looked into her eyes, then turned away.  
"Kinda?" He murmured.  
"This is my dog, his name is Ein! Isn't he a cutie?" Faye said, petting him. Nacho smiled. Jet murmured.  
"Faye...stop...flirting..." Jet groaned. Faye's eyes narrowed and she grabbed a conveniently placed stick and beat him. Nacho looked on in horror.  
"Uhm, are you sure you should do that?" He asked. Faye smiled, a big grin on her face.  
"It helps with the pain." Faye lied.   
"Oh." Is all Nacho could say. Faye was a bit impatient with him now. She had to make a way so that he felt comfortable around her, but she just moaned. She knew now free money would not come from Nacho. She stood up and put her hands on her hips and face towards the ceiling and let out one long, loud and fake chuckle.  
"NACHO'S A WIERD NAME!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. She thought he might cry, as his whole face grew brick red and he squeaked a 'I need to go now' through his teeth and dash towards the door and left. Faye laughed hideously.  
"Did you see his face?!" Faye mocked, obviously talking to Ein. "it's so fun to make fun of people!"  
"Come to my house, I'll give your daughter and you food and money. It's the least can do."  
"No, really, Stella. You don't have to-" Spike said, but he and Ed followed her anyway. Ed tugged at Spike's sleeve and asked questions about him being her father. Spike walked with Stella around Venus, rambling on about weather and unimportant things they easily said without thought. Ed would occasionally jump around towards people and scare them, but usually tugged at Spike's sleeve and pointed things out that she wanted like foods and plush. Stella actually went into one store and got her a kit to make stuffed animals. They once stopped by a nice looking restaurant.  
"How's life treating you, Stella? Now that you can see Venus?" Spike asked, waving the spoon he held between his pointer and middle finger, then scooping up some soup. Stella smiled and looked up to him.  
"Empty." She muttered. She seemed to be searching for something else to say as she blankly stared at her food. "And you?"  
"Okay, I guess. It's a hard business, bounty hunting." Spike said, finishing the last spoonful of soup then holding it up to his mouth to sip up the rest, then gave a great sigh. Edward devoured a piece of blueberry pie given to her then asked politely as she could for more pie. Stella smiled.  
"And Edward, how are you feeling today?" Stella asked she, sort of slow. Edward turned her head with a short 'nyaa' and then grinned.  
"Good pie! Edward likes to eat the pie! Hasn't eaten in forever, Edward has!" Edward laughed as another piece of pie was placed before her. Stella looked towards Spike, who was at loss of words.  
"She's disturbed, she doesn't know what she's talking about!" Spike suggested.  
"Edward not disturbing anyone...anymore." Edward said, taking one bite of pie.  
"Well, if you don't have much food, you should have told me! I have plenty of money, you can borrow some, really!" Stella argued. Spike shook his hands and head.  
"No, we're okay! Faye has enough debt to live off of for the rest of our lives." Spike laughed. Stella looked at him.  
"No...money to keep...you don't have to pay me back..." Spike stared at her for a moment in silence with only the sounds of Edward eating and the conversations people around them carried on.  
"Oh...well...thanks..." When they finally got to Stella's church, they were treated well, without a word between them. Ed often played simple Earth games with Stella and she would play and laugh with her a lot. Spike was quiet, and just watched. It was really beautiful, Edward getting along with a mother type. Spike looked at Stella's stomach, and he saw her figure was distorted, and plump.  
"Stella..." Spike started to ask. He paused, asking himself if he should speak more, but did, "Are you...gonna have a baby?" Stella paused then looked up at Spike with a long, cute smile. Spike said no more the rest of the whole day with Stella. For the first time, he didn't know what to say.  
  
"Okay, we're good to go, you have to say good-bye to Stella." Spike said, turning the key harshly. There was a big sound of something falling then the engine helplessly started itself. He looked over at Ed, who was already hugging Stella. He sighed.  
"Hey, Stella." He yelled to her. She looked up. "Thanks, I don't know how I can ever repay you, it's important that we get back to the Bebop." Stella smiled. She didn't say anything. Just smiled. That's all Spike got. A long, haunting smile. Edward climbed into the Swordfish crying, clutching onto Spike. As the door closed, he could still faintly see her smile through the glass. And as he left he felt her smile in his head.   
"Stella." He said to himself. He couldn't get himself to talk anymore. When he looked for Ed, he found her asleep on his lap. His eyes closed, he thought deeply. There were lots of feeling he had for Edward, that he couldn't tell her. She was to young to know how he felt about her, how he saw her as if she we're only a friend, a member of the crew, but a daughter or someone he needed to take care of.   
  
Faye moaned and turned to Ein.  
"That worthless hobo made me think--am I loosing my touch? Am I becoming unattractive?" She moaned towards Ein. He whimpered a reply.  
"Hey, I don't take advice from dogs..." Faye moaned. And here Jet is, without my money!" Faye cried. She moaned for a second then paused...then grinned. Running towards Ein, she picked him up and wheeled him around until she was dizzy.  
"Jet is here! I can go to Earth!" Faye giggled. "And I will just leave a note saying I'll be back, he won't care! The blob's poison fades away soon anyway!" Faye rummaged through all the paper around her until her search came upon a blank piece of paper and a pen upon it she scratchily wrote:  
  
Dear Jet, Hey, It's Faye! I guess if you're reading this then you are feeling better. That's dandy and all, but I'm not here right now, I'm on Earth by now and I have taken Ein with me! And if Spike comes back, don't tell him that I took all his stuff to sell!  
  
Good luck and all that, Faye Valentine 


End file.
